Against hike in fishing cannoe licence fee by Captain of Ports

15 December 2025

To,

Captain of Ports,

Government of Goa,

Panaji, Goa

Subject: Objections to collection of Rs.1000/- as canoe inspection fee during annual renewal before December end

Sir,

It has come as rude shock to us at All Goa Small Scale Responsible Fisheries Union (AGSSRFU) that your office is collecting Rs.1000/- as canoe inspection of non-mechanised crafts and Rs.500/- as its licence fee together. Our investigations on this has revealed the following:-

1. It is for the first time in history of Captain of Ports in Goa that inspection fees are collected during annual renewal of licence. In the past Inspection fees were collected just once in life of canoe: during the time of fresh registration of canoes at Captain of Ports. Annual renewal payments included only licence fees which is currently Rs.500/-.

2. We are informed that Government passed the law to create this additional financial burden on small scale fishers in December 2019 but was not enforced for six years. We checked out the authenticity of such claims but failed to note any mention of inspection of canoe fees during annual renewal of licence.

3. There are several instances wherein the officers from Captain of Ports office has collected inspection of canoes fees but have never went on ground to inspect concerned canoes for which fees are collected for.

4. Renewal procedure at the Captain of Ports is dreadful lasting over a month, sometimes several months. Individual fishers are made to enter the chamber of Captain of Ports (COP) and search their files from hundreds of piled up files. This creates safety and security issue of documentation stored at COP office. This is very bad and needs to change. Small Scale Fishers must benefit from Ease of doing bussiness and single window quick processing of our applications. 

You are hereby requested to attend to these points and take following action:

1. Stop collecting Rs.1000/- as canoe inspection fees at the time of December end renewal time. If it's done according to 2019 amendment then keep it in abeyance (and eventually repeal) as it was done past six years due to its inherently fleecing consequences. Return the amounts of Rs.1000/- collected as canoe inspection fees back to the depositors.

2. Collect Canoe inspection fee only at the time of registration of fresh canoe and not annually as has been the practice hither to. Collect licence fee annually.

3. Ensure that officers entrusted with inspection of canoes actually do their job and know ground situation. Right now COP officers operate only on paper without any level information about canoes thereby short-circuiting entire process for the sake of promoting corruption.

4. Streamline registration and renewal procedure at the office of COP to ensure that procedure is simple, quick and easy. Ensure the collection of fees takes place in COP office itself rather than pushing fishers into intimidatingly long ques at solo bank counter of COP choice in Panjim.

5. Ensure that documents of registrations and renewal are handled by competent COP officers rather than fishers from all over Goa entering chamber of COP.

We expect your co-operation to act on this quickly.

Thanking you.

Yours sincerely, 

Shaila D'mello 

President 

Laximan Mangueshkar 

Secretary

AGSSRFU letter on problems faced by small-scale fishers at Campal Beach

30.04.2025

To,

Director of Fisheries,

Panaji, Goa

To,

Captain of Ports,

Panaji, Goa

To,

Principal Chief Conservator of Forest,

Panaji, Goa

To,

Director of Tourism, 

Government of Goa,

Panaji, Goa

To,

Commisioner,

Corporation of City of Panjim,

Panaji, Goa

Subject: Seeking solutions to problems faced by small-scale fishers at Campal Beach, Panjim

Sir/Madam,

It has been brought to our urgent attention by our members that their canoes stationed at Campal are facing various kinds of impediments from Directorate of Tourism, Forest Department and CCP combine. These local fishers who undertake fishing in Mandovi river are told from April 06, 2025 by various officials of these departments that their canoes looks dirty and they must not dock their canoes at the present venue.

What is dirty and beautiful is based on subjective bias of the beholder. All Goa Small Scale Responsible Fisheries Union (AGSSRFU) strongly objects to referring Goa's traditional fishing occupation and their canoes as "dirty".

Parking of several casino vessels in the middle of Mandovi river has already drastically reduced fishing spaces for small scale fishers of campal Beach and other villages on Mandovi riparian coast past few decades. These casino vessels are truly Monstrosities of Mandovi that are allowed to flourish as a strategy to disrupt fishing in Mandovi river.

Further we wish to revive the memory that traditional canoes parking spaces at Campal Beach has been progressively encroached upon by Forest department by undertaking plantations of Cajurina and Mangroves, and by other State Authorities by constructing cycle track on campal Beach to benefit tourism that has blocked canoe parking spaces already and were shifted to its present site.

AGSSRFU considers this as sustained aggression against Goa's traditional fishing occupation and calls upon urgent attention of your office to do away with above cited impediments to fishing communities with immediate effect to enable fishers to carry their occupation without any trouble from CCP, Tourism Department, and Forest Department. 

AGSSRFU reserves right to undertake all the necessary actions within the framework of existing law in case your office fails to protects interests of fishing communities at Campal Beach.

We hope that you will act to defence Goa's fishing based occupations and no longer continue as harbingers of hatred against campal fishers referring to them in violent narrative framework as "dirty". We reject this narrative totally and completely and you are requested to change your approach towards fishing communities and be respectful and treat us with respect that we deserve for our hard work to earn our livelihoods and support our families.

Thanking You.

Yours Truly,

Shaila D'mello 

President,

AGSSRFU 

Laximan Mangueshkar, 

Secretary,

AGSSRFU

Impediments created for fishing canoes at Campal, Panaji

22.04.2025

To,

Director of Fisheries,

Panaji, Goa

To,

Captain of Ports,

Panaji, Goa

To,

Principal Chief Conservator of Forest,

Panaji, Goa

To,

Director of Tourism, 

Government of Goa,

Panaji, Goa

To,

Commisioner,

Corporation of City of Panjim,

Panaji, Goa

Subject: Impediments created for fishing canoes at Campal, Panaji

Sir/Madam,

It has been brought to our urgent attention by our afflitatiate fishing Union in Goa namely All Goa Small Scale Responsible Fisheries Union (AGSSRFU) that its members with fishing canoes stationed at Campal are facing various kinds of impediments from Directorate of Tourism, Forest Department and CCP combine. These local fishers who undertake fishing in Mandovi river are told from April 06, 2025 by various officials of these departments that their cannoes looks dirty and they must not dock their canoes at the present venue.

What is dirty and beautiful is based on subjective bias of the beholder. National Federation of Small-Scale Fishworkers (NFSF) strongly objects to referring Goa's traditional fishing occupation and their canoes as "dirty".

Moreover we wish to revive the memory that traditional canoe parking spaces at Campal Beach has been progressively encroached upon by Forest department by undertaking plantations of Cajurina and Mangroves. 

NFSF considers this as sustained aggression against Goa's traditional fishing occupation and calls upon your urgent attention to do away with above cited impediments to fishing communities with immediate effect to enable fishers to carry their occupation without any trouble from CCP, Tourism Department, and Forest Department. 

Thanking You.

Yours Truly,

Sebastiao Rodrigues

General Secretary

National Federation of Small-Scale Fishworkers  (NFSF)